I’ve developed a bunch of robustness levels, which I call “Robustness Level 1” to “Robustness Level 3” (RL1 – RL3). Here’s how they work:

RL1 is an ok strategy. But not a spectacular one. Nothing bad happens if you have one or two in your portfolio, but you better aim higher.

RL2 is a great strategy. It’s like a Volvo car. Very robust, can survive a lot. This is my “baseline”. The majority of strategies in my trading portfolio should be AT LEAST RL2.

And then there is the third level.

RL3 is an exceptional strategy. It’s a ‘robustness beast’. But it is also a very hard one to find. With my fast and fully automated strategy development, it can still take weeks.

Our ‘Breakout Strategies Masterclass’ students already know this. In the masterclass, they learn to follow my development and robustness testing process step-by-step (exactly as I do in my hedge fund). And they already know the patience that needs to be developed to come up with the occasional RL3 strategy.

Al used the ‘Smashing False Breakouts’ techniques to prove that a failed trading strategy can be revived back to profitability… without overfitting.

And now, he’s decided to test the ‘Smashing False Breakouts’ (SFB) techniques even further. Specifically, to see if a RL2 Crude Oil trading strategy he developed in the Breakout Strategies Masterclass can be elevated to RL3 status using the SFB techniques.

First, Al tested all 14 SFB techniques again to find the most suitable one for the Crude Oil strategy. More about his testing procedure has already been described in the previous post.

Then he took the winning technique and implemented it into the existing RL2 Crude Oil strategy. (With the SFB techniques and code from the course, this can all be done in under an hour).

Here’s the difference before and after implementing the winning SFB technique:

Here are the Tradestation backtest reports:

And here’s a summary of the improvements. (Drawdown reduced by 34.25%, Avg Trade improved by +36.86% and Net Profit / Drawdown ratio improved by +32.82%):

But the best is yet to come.

Of course, there’s always the danger of overfitting and over optimization.

Was the implementation of the SFB technique here such a case?

Al decided to take the improved Crude Oil strategy and run it again through the very extensive robustness testing procedures from the ‘Breakout Strategies Masterclass’.

To do this, he used the exclusive BOS Tool (a special app that is only available in the Breakout Masterclass).

And he even tested it for Robustness Level 3 (the original strategy was Robustness Level 2).

Reduce False Breakouts

"The Breakout Strategies Masterclass has without a doubt been a great investment for me already. I took the course in the second half of 2017 and my results have improved substantially... I’ve read literally hundreds of books and took many courses on the markets and most of them failed to teach me a robust way to trade... Thank you Tomas for another great course."

BrunoBreakout Strategies Masterclass Student

“Immediately after applying just the time filters from the ‘Smashing False Breakouts’ course, I achieved an absolutely massive improvement.”

ShawnSmashing False Breakouts Student

"The DPS Course is FABULOUS. I will implement the Dynamic Position Sizing code next week!"

AlDynamic Position Sizing Student

"I have taken it, and finished lesson 1. I think the value is much higher the price. Actually, I use the similar breakout strategies for swing trading. But this course still inspired me new ideas, it could be a part of my personal trading style. Thank you for sharing this good course."

Rick LiaoEmini Breakout Strategies Student

"I recently bought the e-mini breakout course. Ton of value there! Just the lesson with the practical walkthrough of the smart code is worth the whole price of the course. Wow!

Also, I work in a large U.S. corporation, and I see a lot of presentations and training materials. The way the course was laid out and formatted is Top Notch and very professional."

BrianEmini Breakout Strategies Student

"The course is great and a complete "Hands-on" starting package. It covers all the main aspects to get you kick-started in the right direction."

RickEmini Breakout Strategies Student

"Thanks everyone for all the tips, and big thanks to Tomas & Andrew for getting this info out. I cannot imagine how much time (and money) these courses have saved me. Up until this point I had assumed a 10-year optimization (with 20% OOS) followed by a SWFA was adequate robustness testing to start trading a strategy live."

NathanBreakout Strategies Masterclass Student

"It is a great tool. You are taking position sizing to a new level and I can see why it is so crucial for your hedge fund."

ThomasDynamic Position Sizing Student

"Everything that Tomas puts out is quality content. I own several of his courses and can say that the information and ideas are outstanding."

SherifTrading Market Internals Student

"The courses will cut down your learning curve dramatically. Learning programming trading could have taken years for you on your own."

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DISCLAIMER: Trading involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. People can and do lose money. Hypothetical results have many inherent limitations. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.